Many people consider the things government does for them to be social progress but they regard the things government does for others as socialism. -Earl Warren-

I do not agree with the extremists of either the left or the right, but I think they should be allowed to speak and to publish, both because they themselves have, and ought to have, rights, and once their rights are gone, the rights of the rest of us are hardly safe. Extremists typically want to squash not only those who disagree with them diametrically, but those who disagree with them at all. -Jane Jacobs-

You’ve got to be brave to age. The aging process is a killer. -Richard Trucks-

There was a man who entered a local newspaper’s pun contest. He sent in ten different puns, in the hope that at least one of the puns would win. Unfortunately, no pun in ten did.

A little learning is a dang’rous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring. -Alexander Pope-

Rush hour traffic in Indy is an adventure. Add in construction, and it’s about as much fun as sitting in a bathtub full of scissors. -Sherrie Ford Bennett-

God has not invited you to change the world by your performance, but He has invited you to change the world by your prayer. -Hunter Twitty-

He thinks, therefore he’s wrong. -Loretta Lockhorn, “The Lockhorns”-

September 5, 1996

Thank God for the U.S.A.

THIS week’s events in Iraq confirm an inescapable fact: There is but one power in the world, and it is the United States of America.

When Saddam Hussein sent his tanks against Kurdish rebels last weekend, it was the United States and the United States alone that met the challenge. After only a cursory check with his allies, President Bill Clinton ordered missile attacks on Iraqi military targets. The rest of the world applauded (Britain and Canada) or jeered (Russia and China) or grumbled (France and Italy), but no one made a move either to halt or to help the United States. The United Nations Security Council failed even to comment. Like it or not, it was an all-American show. The rest of us watched from the cheap seats.

It was not the first time. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States has been the unchallenged global hegemon–cop, security guard, mediator and broker, all in one. Little happens in the world without some involvement from Washington.

It was the United States that organized the alliance to eject Mr. Hussein’s invading army from Kuwait. It is the United States that has kept him in check ever since.

It was the United States that overthrew the last non-communist dictatorship in Latin America by threatening to invade Haiti. It was the United States that led the North Atlantic Treaty Organization into Bosnia last year. It was the United States that brought Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat together on the White House lawn.

It was the United States that persuaded North Korea to promise to abandon its nuclear-weapons program. It was the United States that sent troops into Somalia to end a devastating famine.

It was the United States that sent in the navy when China threatened Taiwan. It was the United States that bailed out Mexico when its economy threatened to collapse. It is the United States that leads the effort against international terrorism. Even in Northern Ireland, that most intractable of conflicts, U.S. diplomats have been at work on a solution.

This American ubiquity can be irritating. Proud nations such as France resent the U.S. monopoly in international affairs. Middle nations like Canada regret the sidelining of the UN. Even those who approve of the outcome of U.S. brokerage are unhappy that Washington has taken on so much. No one likes being rescued from a scrap by his older brother, especially when that brother is a braggard covered in Stars and Stripes.

But if Washington does not play world cop, who will? Not the United Nations, whose disarray grows. Not Britain: too poor. Not France: too self-absorbed. Not Germany: unwanted. Not Japan: still reluctant to take the lead. Certainly not China or Russia, either of which could become more problem than solution.

At this moment in the late 20th century, only the United States has the economic wherewithal and the military might to police an unruly world. Only the United States has the habit of leadership. Only the United States has the experience and the will.

Historical accident has handed supreme power to a nation that, for all its occasional foolishness, ignorance and maddening self-assurance, is equipped to exercise it responsibly. We should thank our lucky stars.

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